Leaving Fairbanks

Left Fairbanks around 9am heading south towards Denali National Park. Campsite reservations within Denali National Park are coveted often require booking months in advance. That is not the way we travel. In all our traveling years with our Airstream we have booked ahead maybe 2 or 3 times.  Our thought was that it’s early in the season and not many travelers are on the road yet. There’s still spots of snow and ice around. We’ve already encountered several nights with the lows in the lower 30’s.

We called and booked 3 nights at Riley Campground just inside the Park. There are other campgrounds further in, but they don’t open until May 20. We get to thinking, we are booked until May 19 at Riley Campground, why not extend that reservation by one day then book at a more primitive campground 30 miles into the Park. We inquire about that and we are booked. So plans now are to be in Denali for a full week.

Next up is to set up the camper for our use for the first time in 9 months. It’s a routine task where I deal with the outside setup and Marsha with the inside. All systems go. We test the hot water heater, check; The heater, check; the stove top, check, the water, check; the electrical system, check.

Next task is to load the items we normally haul in the trailer back into the trailer. That’s done. We are all set. Hey, wait a minute, there is no electric power in the trailer. Time for me to troubleshoot the problem. When not plugged into “shore power” our trailer is suppled with DC power from 2 lithium batteries. Nothing is working. Shore power is when we can plug into an outlet or a generator. No electricity available at any campsite in Denali NP so that leaves the generator.

Briefly, I need to step back and mention we purchased a new tow vehicle this past winter. A Ford F-150 Powerboost. It’s a hybrid with a built-in generator. So now it’s time to put the truck to the test. I set up the connection and like magic we have power. and everything runs. That’s fine in a pinch, but we do not want to run the truck all the time so we can enjoy the comforts of our cosy trailer. Need to continue troubleshooting why no DC power.

Luckily, in Riley Campground we have enough Cell Signal to get on the web. Thanks to a few websites along with Youtube I had some things to explore. After a couple of hours, I was still clueless on what to do figuring I could call tech support the following day for more troubleshooting ideas. Then it dawned on me there is a battery cut off switch under the dining room table. I checked and sure enough the switch was off. Switched it on and problem solved. While placing something under the table, one of the items hit the off switch!

Tomorrow we hope to explore more of the Park.